Photoshop
by sarahhaley
Summary: Dash and Kwan find an old class picture and start having a little too much fun on Photoshop. Will someone's secret be revealed? No slash.
1. Photoshop and Discoveries

**A/N: My first Fanfiction! Hope you enjoy!**

**Summary: Dash and Kwan find a school photo. They scan it onto Dash's Dad's computer and start having a little too much fun on Photoshop. Will they threaten a certain someone's secret?**

**~oOo~**

…

"… I dunno. Whadda you wanna do?"

"I dunno. Whadda you wanna do?"

_Sigh._ "I dunno. Whadda you wanna do?"

This exchange had been going on between Dash and Kwan for a few minutes now. The two football players sat on the foot of Dash's bed, trying to decide how to spend the rest of their homework-free Thursday afternoon.

"… I dunno… Whadda _you_ wanna do?"

Dash looked around his football-themed room, trying to find something interesting to entertain him and his friend. Team banners, posters, and other sports-y paraphernalia decked the walls and hung from the ceiling. Trophies were displayed on the otherwise empty bookshelf, on top of the bureau, and a few were even located on the paper- laden desk. Footballs of every color and size known to man sat on pretty much any other counter-space Dash could find.

Dash shrugged, "I dunno… We could toss the football around some more…" He held up the relatively normal looking, non-colored football that he had been holding in his lap. "Sound good?"

Kwan looked at the football and sighed, "We've already tossed that around for two hours. Besides, it's getting darker outside, and I'm not sure that your mom would like it if we tried throwing it in the house..."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Dash looked at his alarm clock – _8:12_ – and then outside to confirm his friend's reasoning. It was getting darker outside, and Kwan didn't have to be home until ten-o-clock. What could they do with almost two more hours? "Uh, we could watch a movie. How does that sound?"

Kwan started to nod his head in agreement, but paused. "But didn't you say that your mom would call us to dinner around nine? I don't like my movies being interrupted."

Dash groaned. "You're right. Well, we could play a video game! What about Halo or Portal? You like those games!"

Kwan shook his head, "Yeah, but I own almost all of the good games that you have! I played all of those yesterday after homework! Now, if you had any new games, I would love to play. But you don't. So... Now what?"

They sat in silence, each of them trying to think of any way how they could spend time, when suddenly, Dash had a little idea. "Hey, I'm gonna get my IPod, and then we can figure out what to do from there! Maybe we can find something to do that'll last us until dinner time."

Kwan nodded. "Yeah, that sounds OK."

Dash stood up, making the springs on his bed squeak, and he wobbled over to his cluttered desk. After a brief examination, he found the location of his IPod.

"Got it! Let's go downstairs."

He quickly swiped the music player off of the desk, but in the process, he accidentally knocked over a pile of papers. Dash looked at the unorganized flurry of papers that were now scattered all over the already quite messy floor.

"... Darn it."

He and Kwan looked at the clutter for a while, neither one of them wanting to pick it up. Dash even considered leaving the mess there to pick up later. But then Dash cringed at a different thought: What if his mom decided to do one of her room check-ins, and his room wasn't neat enough? What if she picked up the papers for him? And what if she read a few of them…? Dash tried to remember what could've fallen off of the desk. He cringed again. His mom just couldn't be allowed to read even a little bit of that embarrassing school junk. His essays for Mr. Lancer's class always turned out to be extremely cheesy, and he would never hear the end of "My Worst Fears: The Dark" from his parents…

"Come on, Kwan, help me pick these up!"

Kwan quickly got up and started helping his friend. Sure enough, that pile of papers was just school junk. Kwan didn't understand why Dash didn't just throw the essays out, but he didn't dare question his larger-than-himself friend.

After spending about five minutes squatting on their knees, picking up about five un-stapled essays, the two boys spent a few more seconds searching for a few miscellaneous scraps that were also caught in the downpour. Dash looked under his desk just to make sure that he had gotten everything, when a little slip of paper caught his eye. He reached under the desk to pull it out.

"Hey, Kwan, look at this!"

It was Mr. Lancer's class photo, the one taken towards the beginning of the year. The most noticeable thing about the photo was how all of the football players were huddled together, pretty much all of the girls were hanging all over each other, and all of the nerds were as far away from everyone else as they could get. Dash smirked. _Typical. Who wants to be near those freaks, anyways?_

Kwan grabbed the picture from Dash's grip."Oh, yeah, I remember that picture! Where'd this come from?"

Dash shrugged and snatched the photo back, "It must've fallen off of my desk with all of the other papers. It was under my desk when I found it."

"Cool." Kwan, having the attention span of a peanut, looked at the picture for a whole three seconds, stood up, and started heading out of the room. "Now let's go downstairs!"

Dash started standing up to follow his friend, but one of those rare brilliant ideas suddenly came to his mind. "Kwan! Wait!"

Kwan froze and looked at his friend, who was now staring at the photo with evil sparkling in his eyes.

"What is it, Dash?"

"I know what we can do!" He almost sang, waving the picture up in the air above his head lazily, almost dropping it again in the process.

"What?" Kwan asked hesitantly, not sure if he really wanted to know what sickeningly evil scheme his friend was planning.

Dash jumped up and skipped over to Kwan, waving the picture in his friend's face, as if that would help make his point.

"Blackmail material!"

**~oOo~**

**Forty minutes later...**

"What else can you think of, Kwan?" Dash asked his football friend.

Kwan scratched his head and studied the screen in front of him.

Dash had previously scanned the class picture onto his Dad's computer, and uploaded it to Photoshop, only to discover that the picture was too grainy to work with. Just when the two were about to give up and go play video games, Dash came up with another brilliant idea.

After digging around the house, the teenagers had found last year's yearbook, and now had many different pictures at their disposal. On the computer screen, the Photoshop document was opened up to Mr. Lancer's class page, and the two boys had already spent a little more than a half-an-hour of their afternoon giggling and squealing like girls at a sleepover, trying to make their fellow students look as embarrassing as possible.

So far, Spike was showing off a fashionably sharp Hitler stash with a bowtie and a sad excuse for a rainbow clown wig. Valerie's curly hair was shaped into what appeared to be an afro. Sam was wearing Paulina's pink shirt as well as some hot pink Painted lipstick and some of Star's blond hair. Paulina was, in turn, wearing Sam's black shirt, along with Devil horns and a pitchfork. Mr. Lancer was completely bald, including no eyebrows, and had a purple-tinted nose.

Kwan considered the picture again, and shrugged, "I don't know… But, look!" He pointed ecstatically at the screen, "We haven't done Fentina yet!"

Dash gasped, "You're right! How did I forget to do him? Oh, this'll be fun!" He started selecting some tools and messing around with Fenton, when Kwan tapped him on the shoulder, stopping Dash.

Kwan looked as though he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if he should. Finally, he spoke up nervously. "Um, Dash? You've been messing everyone else up on Photoshop… and since I've just been standing here watching, can I do Fentina?"

"No, not Fentina!" Dash whined, keeping his eyes on the screen, "He's my favorite nerd punching bag! You can do Foley when I'm done!"

Kwan should've stopped asking right then. After all, his friend was bigger than him, and anything that he said that could annoy Dash was like waving a sign high up in the air that said, _"Hurt me now!"_

But Kwan didn't think about the possible threat, and continued. "Please, Dash? I'll give you one of my football trading cards!"

"No," Dash growled.

"What about one of those special rare ones that you don't have?" Kwan pleaded, "One of the collector ones?"

Dash inhaled sharply and frowned. "Fine," He mumbled, unable to resist Kwan's offer, "We'll do Fentina your way!" He slowly and bitterly stood up out of the office chair, and Kwan quickly slid into the previously occupied seat.

"Thank you! Now, what to do, what to do…"

Neither of the two boys had known a lot about Photoshop. They weren't tech-y nerds like that Foley kid. But they did spend a bulk of those previous thirty minutes experimenting and figuring out what some of the basic tools did, and where to find some of the settings and colors. Kwan thought back on his recently updated Photoshop repertoire, and selected a tool to use.

"Let's make Fentina have long hair!"

He went to the painting tool, and selected black. He tried as best as he could to make Danny's hair long, like a girls.

Kwan heard a giggle come from behind him.

"Wow," Dash laughed, "He looks like he has a mullet!"

Kwan looked at Fenton's new hairdo, and laughed as well. "Yeah, he does, doesn't he? Although that wasn't quite the look I was looking for. I was going for something more like Paulina's…" Kwan selected the 'Undo' button, and clicked it until the mullet was gone, and all that was on top of Danny's head was his normal, raven-black hair.

"No, Kwan, that looked funny!" Dash whined some more, "Don't erase it! Let me see that!"

Dash tried to rip the computer mouse away from Kwan, but Kwan refused to let it go, "No! I just thought I could do something funnier!"

"Give it here!"

"NO! You said I could do Fenturd!"

"But you're doing it wrong!"

"No I'm not!"

The two wrestled over the computer mouse for a few moments trying to take possession of it, like a mini game of capture the flag. Dash was obviously winning, his size alone being an advantage, but Kwan still kept up a good fight. Dash waved the mouse high in the air, and Kwan was unable to reach it. He would jump up and down in a vain attempt to grab it, but to no avail. After scrambling around the office trying to take a hold of the mouse, Kwan finally decided tackled Dash from behind. The two fell to the ground in a cacophony of shouts and cursing, Dash's head just narrowly missing impact with a leg of the office chair. Now Kwan was on top of Dash's back, and had his friend in a head lock. But despite his efforts, Kwan was still left empty handed. Regardless, he still desperately fought for control of the mouse.

"Give it here!" He cried, trying to take it from Dash, who had used his awkward position on the floor to his advantage, and had smartly placed the mouse under his stomach.

"No, Kwan! Why should I?" Dash yelled, pushing his fellow football player's arms out from around his neck and throwing his friend off of his back.

"Remember, trading cards? Collector's edition?" Kwan gasped for breath, "Those are the ones with the shiny ink everywhere!"

Dash sighed and reluctantly handed Kwan back the mouse. "…Fine." The two sat on the floor for a while, catching their breath. Finally, they got up and huddled around the computer screen.

"Zoom in on his face!" Dash ordered

"How do I do that?"

"Give it to me!" Dash took the mouse again, and then, after another round of girl fights and fussing, gained control of the keyboard. "See, you do this… And then you press that right there and select his face… Then press this other little thingie right here, and then… Bam!" Dash beamed proudly at his success. On the computer, Fenton's grinning nerd face filled almost the entire screen. Dash handed to mouse back to Kwan again. "There you go! Now, quick, do something to him before I throw up from looking at his face for too long."

"Let me think! What to do to Fenturd…" Kwan rested his head in the palm of his hand and drummed his fingers against his cheekbone. After a few seconds of thought, Kwan lit up.

"I know!" He exclaimed, "Let's make him look demented!"

He selected Danny's irises, and went over to the filling tool. He then proceeded to make Danny's eyes red.

"Cool!" Dash laughed, "He looks creepy now!"

Kwan smiled for a while, happy that he finally did something right. He looked at the screen, grinning proudly at his work, but his smile slowly disappeared. It was replaced with worry. "Yeah, but it's kinda scary looking… I don't like it. It's starting to freak me out now…" He then changed Fenton's eyes to a bright, almost neon shade of green. "There we go! Better! See? Still spooky... _Whoa..._" He wiggled his fingers while moaning like a ghost.

Dash groaned and mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like "What a loser…" Kwan was about to say something in protest, but Dash cut him off.

"Give him really long eyelashes!" He suggested.

Kwan took the paint tool again, and did what his friend recommended.

Dash laughed again. "Oh man, I'm so glad that my dad is on a business trip… He would flip out if he knew how we were using his computer!"

Kwan looked at his handiwork. "Yeah, this is fun. Look at those eyelashes! We should try this more often when your Dad's not around! But..." Dash gave him a cold stare. Kwan continued regardless, "I think that the eyelashes sort of counteract with the dementedness. It isn't nearly as funny."

Dash looked at the picture and shrugged, seeing his friend's reasoning. "Yeah, I guess you're right... Delete them."

"Uh, Ok." Kwan did as he was told.

"Now try making him look like a vampire! Make him all pale, like those people in Nightlight-"

"Twilight…" Kwan coughed.

"- like those people in Twilight…" Dash stated, acting as though he had never been corrected. "Find the tint-y tool thing, and make him pale. Maybe we can add sparkles later when we actually figure out how!"

Kwan obeyed, and he tinted Danny, making him look sickeningly grey.

"Good job!" Dash patted his friend on the back, "Now he looks like he's about to up-chuck!"

Kwan nodded in agreement, smiling at how silly Fenton looked. He then took a quick glance at the computer clock – _8:52_.

"Hey Dash! Let's do a few more things before your mom calls us in for dinner!"

Dash looked at the clock, too, and nodded, "Yeah, it's almost dinner time. Let's do one more thing before my mom comes in and sees what we're doing on my dad's computer... We could get in trouble if she finds out."

"Um, how about we try… Um, what about… Um…"

Dash rolled his eyes. "Try giving him old man hair!"

"Ok!" Kwan selected a rough outline of Danny's hair, and then went over to the filling tool. He selected a white-ish grey, and filled in the hair. Kwan was about to start laughing at Danny, when he froze. He sat still, with his mouth gaping.

"No, not like that, Kwan! That's not old dude hair!" Dash yelled, not even taking a second to glance at the computer screen, "You messed it up! … Hello? Kwan?" Dash, having noticed Kwan's vacant stare for the first time, waved his hand up and down over his friend's eyes. "Kwan! Are you even listening to me?"

Kwan just nodded slowly, still in shock.

" were supposed to make it look thinned out with some grey hairs with maybe a bald spot… Kwan? Hello? Are you OK?" Dash asked slowly, getting a little freaked out by Kwan's odd behavior. "What are you looking at?" Dash followed Kwan's line of sight, and finally looked at the computer screen. His eyes grew wide as dinner plates.

"But… But…"

"But..."

"Fentonia…?" Kwan stuttered, "He's… He's…"

They both yelled in unison, "_Fenton_ is _Phantom!_"

**~oOo~**

**A/N: This is just a cute little one-shot that I came up with while I was thinking about how blind the citizens of Amity Park have to be to not realize that Phantom and Fenton look so much alike.**

**This could be more than a one-shot, I suppose. With enough reviews and love, I just might put up more to this story...****_*wink wink*_**

**Oh, and HUGE thanks to my Beta Reader, ghostanimal! She helped me fix all of my stupid grammar and spelling mistakes, and really helped make this fanfiction shine! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own DP. If I did, there would be at least one new episode every week. I would also have to turn into a middle-aged man. As you can see, that hasn't happened. Therefore, I don't own it, nor anything else mentioned in this fic.**


	2. Freaking and Coping

**A/N: Now, without further ado, presenting Part Two!**

**Summary: Dash and Kwan try to stay calm and collected about their discovery. Dash has doubts, and for once, Kwan has a few answers. Then, they go to school. Where********_Danny_********is.**

**~oOo~**

**That Same, Fateful Night**

"_Fenton_ is _Phantom_?"

"But… But…" _It can't be!_

"But… How?" _No way._

When the two boys finally quit their unintelligible stuttering, they sat in dumbfounded silence, bug eyes glued to the computer screen. Neither of them dared to move.

Finally, a soft whisper that was barely audible escaped Kwan.

"That is not possible. How is this possible?"

Dash didn't answer right away, but instead let the question hang in the air for a moment.

"… I don't know." Wow. What an eye-opener that was. Dash admitted to not knowing something, and he didn't even care! Instead, he tried ignoring the picture in front of him, but Phantom's face stared back from where Fentina's face should've been. "But this is some type of trick, right? It's got to be!" He pleaded.

"I don't know, Dash…" But Kwan had been thinking the same thing. It had to be some sort of prank, or even a coincidence! But then how would the two look so much alike?

_Unless…?_

_No. Impossible._

"But what if…" Kwan trailed off, letting his imagination go into overdrive, "Yeah, that makes sense. Well, no it doesn't, not really… Does it?"

Kwan was murmuring to himself, and it took all of Dash's willpower not to scream 'Shut _up_!' at him. Dash didn't like not knowing what his friends were thinking, so he rudely interrupted Kwan's thought process, "What makes sense?"

Well, the absences, I guess. Fentoe-nai… I mean, Fenton is always playing hooky and not turning in work. His case is so bad, even I've noticed it."

"You're right!" Dash exclaimed. Then he went right back to scratching his head, "But what about it?"

"All of the bruises and scratches that you say you didn't cause when smashing him into lockers! That, plus the bad grades and stuff, and the picture! _Especially_ that picture! If you just think about it, it all sort of adds up!"

'What are you going at?" Dash was getting almost scared of Kwan, who was normally unable to add two plus two together without the aid of a calculator. Whatever he was yelling out about was either nonsense caused by an overfed imagination, or, for the first time in his life, Kwan had unearthed more than three percent of his thinking capability. To put it simply, Dash was having a hard time keeping up with his friend, who had started shouting out his hypothesis hysterically.

Catching the fear and uncertainty in his friend's voice, Kwan backed down to a whisper and showed more pictures in the yearbook. "You know what I'm talking about, Dash. And I definitely know what I'm talking about!" He pointed to the computer screen again. "I know it's really whacked out, but how could this be a trick? And I don't think that it's a coincidence." He paused to let it sink in.

Dash shivered, and broke the quiet, "So you _do_ think that Fenton-"

"-Is Phantom?" Kwan finished for his friend. "Yeah. Maybe."

_Gulp._ "But wimpy little Fenton… How can _he_-" Dash pointed at a picture of Fenton, and then one of Phantom, "be awesome hero _him?_And if he is, is he… is Fenton dead?" Dash choked out.

"…I don't know."

"But… How? How is loser Fenton my… my hero-?" Dash's body went slightly rigid from shock, the realization finally dawning on him. "Oh my _God!_ Fenton is _Phantom!_ I've been beating up my _hero_…" He slowly sunk onto his knees, eyes unfocused and confused. Kwan had never seen Dash so hurt and so vulnerable. The discovery that he had been harassing his idol was just too much for the jock to handle. "Why didn't he fight back?" Dash wondered aloud, "If Fenton_is_ Phantom, he could've beaten me to a pulp easily. But he didn't."

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about the bullying part…" As Kwan thought more about their situation, the more he stared going pale, "He could practically_kill_us if he wanted to! Or strand us in the Ghost Zone! I can't believe he hasn't done something like that already…" Kwan trailed off, eyes unfocused much like Dash's were, but a quick shake of the head brought him back to reality, "I say that we avoid Fenton at least for the next few days. And absolutely no bullying him, or anyone else! He could get mad."

If Kwan had said that any other time, Dash would've either whined about not being able to bully anyone, or he would've completely ignored his friend's suggestion. But discovering that your favorite punching bag is, in actuality, an awesome kick-butt super hero really puts things into perspective.

Dash nodded, "Yeah, that's better than having Phantom get mad at us, I guess."

It was then that the two boys were called to dinner, and they were forced to put their conversation on pause.

**~oOo~**

**The Next Day…**

Kwan and Dash walked nervously towards their lockers. The dense mass of students seemed impossible to navigate through, and the hallway that enclosed them seemed to go on and on. The deeper into the school that they got, the more claustrophobic and twitchy they felt. Every student that brushed one of their arms and every shout that seemed even a little out of place could've been enough to send either one of the two boys into a nervous fit.

When they finally reached their neighboring lockers, the football players put away their backpacks and grabbed necessary books, all while whispering harshly to each other, discussing their latest mind-blowing discovery.

They were so deep in their conversation, that neither of them noticed a certain student sneak by to take things out of his own locker that was just a few yards away.

Right when Dash was about to affirm his obvious state of disbelief for the seventeenth time that day, he happened to look over his friend's shoulder, noticing the greatly dreaded subject for the first time.

"Fenton!" He yelped helplessly, his squeaky falsetto voice worthy enough for the Casper High Women's Choir. Kwan slowly and dramatically followed his friend's gaze, and turned to face Danny with an equally fearful look etched onto his pale face.

Danny was just about to take hold of one last notebook from his locker when, unfortunately, he heard Dash call out his name. He looked up at the two bullies and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Dash. Come on then, here's my locker. Can we just get this over with?" He slammed his locker door shut, and both of the football players jumped a good five feet off of the ground, "I'm finally on time to school, and I don't want to get another detention if I can avoid it."

Dash and Kwan stood wide eyed, simply staring at the wimpy boy with an odd mixture of alarm, doubt, and… admiration? Danny looked from one boy to the other, eyebrows arched. "Um, guys? Are you OK? Not that I care or anything," He added quickly.

Kwan elbowed Dash, who blinked and snapped out of his trance.

Seeing as his friend was still distracted beyond normal thought process, Kwan took charge. "Um, yeah. Totally, Fenton, why wouldn't we be fine?" he exclaimed, trying to keep his usual tough-man voice. But his voice slipped almost an octave too high.

The two bullies slammed their lockers closed in unison, and went right back to staring oddly, almost fearfully at Fenton.

"Um, yeah… well, we were just going to… Um…" Dash's eyes wandered around the hallway, looking frantically for an excuse to get away from Fenton. "Oh, look, Mr. Lancer's room!"

Dash firmly linked arms with Kwan, and the two walked in a large bend, completely avoiding their usual prey. Danny, his eyebrows still raised high to his hairline, watched the two closely to make sure that they weren't going to try to pull anything. When he thought that they were far enough away, he whispered under his breath.

"Weird…"

The two teenagers continued walking until they were safely in Mr. Lancer's bustling room. They felt much safer knowing that they were separated from Fenton by a row of lockers, a brick wall, some students, and a temporary fort that consisted of a few desks that they had constructed at the spur of the moment.

After making sure that no-one saw them, Kwan and Dash crawled under the makeshift desk fort and spent the next four minutes before class started continuing their discussion from the night before.

Dash sat under the desk with his knees tucked up against his chest and his arms wrapped protectively around them. He rocked back and forth nervously, trying to shut out the noise of the classroom.

"Man, that was too close!" He whispered, "That was probably one of the most freakin' scariest moments in my life!"

"So, what do we do now?" Kwan asked as quietly as possible, "I'm already getting the feeling that he suspects something! Do we tell him that we know?"

Dash looked around worriedly, searching for any sign that Danny had entered the room. "I don't know. Would he get mad at us for figuring it out?"

"But would he be even more mad if he figures out that we figured it out but didn't tell him? Would he even be mad at us at all for knowing?"

"I don't know, Kwan, stop confusing me!"

"I think it would be better to just tell him."

Dash sighed, "But isn't there still a chance that they aren't the same person?" He was dealing with the guilt of the possibility of making his idol's life hard, so he was silently praying that his favorite punching bag wasn't the city's most benevolent specter.

"Well, I guess so…"

"'Cause it would be really creeper-ing for us to be all like, 'Hey Fenton, we know that you're Phantom', and then have it turn out that he _isn't_ Phantom. I don't want to be humiliated, Kwan!"

"We went over this last night!" The smaller jock pulled out a piece of paper from inside of an old yearbook, "Look at it, Dash! Now look at Danny!" Kwan hissed, pointing to the raven-haired boy who had just wandered into the classroom with his two friends. "I think they look too much alike for it to be just chance."

On the paper was the picture of Danny with the changes that the two had made to it. A famous white-haired, green-eyed ghost stared back innocently at the two boys.

"Why did you have to print it out? I don't want to look at it!" Dash whimpered, turning his attention from the photo to the trio of peers that were just sitting down at a few desks on the opposite side of the room. "It makes me feel like… like I'm a bad person."

"So we'll tell him!" Kwan felt the conversation start to veer to a sad, guilty, emotion-full path that he didn't want to deal with right then. "I just don't know when. He would be annoyed if we told him in front of anyone else… He must be hiding the secret from everyone for a reason, and would be really ticked off if we blew it for him."

"But when would we ever get him alone?"

"What about during…" Kwan was about to respond to Dash's question when the two boys were interrupted by a shadow that fell over their fort.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Baxter," A deep voice called down to their hiding spot, "In case you failed to notice the bell ringing, class has started. Care to enlighten your fellow students as to why you appear to be hiding under a table?" The class sniggered.

Dash and Kwan stuck their heads out from under the table, both of them clearly flustered.

Dash was the first to speak up. "Oh, hi Mr. Lancer." He began to slowly make his way out from under the desks, "We were just, um… Practicing for that building buildings class that we have to take next semester…?" It almost came out as a question.

"I believe that you are referring to architecture class with Mr. Humphrey, and I'm truly glad that you boys are planning your possible career paths so early in life. But as for your impending plans, expect detention today after school." Mr. Lancer smirked,

"But," Dash scrambled as fast as he could out from under the table, "I'm the star quarterback of the football team! I can't have detention!"

"Hmm," Mr. Lancer thought, taping a finger against his chin, "That is a good reason to not give you detention, but," He squinted from Dash to the recently emerged Kwan, "so then I don't seem like an unfair teacher, I don't care about your position on the football team, Mr. Baxter. I'll see you in detention alongside Mr. Li. Now go to your seats."

The two jocks picked up their books that were also under the table, and scurried over to their desks that had previously been moved to the furthest corner away from Danny.

In their new strategic locations, Dash and Kwan spent the remainder of the class period passing notes concerning a certain halfa's secret, and watching the minute hand tick closer and closer to the start of Biology class.

**~oOo~**

**A/N: OK, So, first things first… OHMYGOSH, you guys all rock! Seriously, 13 reviews in the first 5 hours? That's, like, a legitimate record! Thanks go out to everyone who reviewed, favorite, and alerted my story! Heck, even all of you guys who are just reading it are BRILLIANT! You have no idea how much it boosts my confidence! _*Hands out cookies galore*_**

**So… How was it? Good? Terrible? I hope not the later… I didn't like this chapter nearly as much as the first one. I still think that I made Kwan a little too smart – but hey, it's better than my rough draft, where Kwan sounded like a mixture between Hermione Granger and Yoda. Also, we don't really know a lot about Kwan from the series, so I'm making it seem like his character is some-what smart, but he is just not able to show it around his friends.**

**Thanks again to my amazing beta, ghostanimal!**

**Disclaimer: I own Danny Phantom just as much as you own the moon. It's not gonna happen, peoples.**


	3. Contemplating and Helping

**A/N: Well, here's part three. Hope you enjoy!**

**Summary: Dash does something really nice, for the first time in his life. Kwan should be pleased with Dash's sudden change in behavior, but Danny is more than just a little creeped out...**

**~oOo~**

**Third Period…**

Dash sat impatiently, waiting for Kwan to finish with whatever he was doing. Just a few minutes before, the smaller jock had stolen his friend's notebook, and was now scrawling furiously in it.

Dash groaned in annoyance.

Because he didn't have his notebook, Dash had to write down his class notes on a lose sheet of paper from his binder. And because Kwan was very preoccupied at the moment, Dash was stuck with the boring task of making sure that his notes were detailed enough so that his friend would be able to copy them later.

_What is he doing with my notebook?_ Dash gritted his teeth in annoyance. _If he doesn't hand it back to me in the next two seconds, I swear I might just have to-_

Someone tapped Dash on the shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. His heart skipped a beat. Dash squealed and spun around quickly, coming face to face with whoever had touched him. He was half expecting it to be Phantom, finally coming to teach him a lesson. Fortunately, it was only Kwan, who was just trying to hand the borrowed notebook back to it's owner in a discreet fashion. Dash gave him a venomous glare before taking back his possession.

Dash studied the notebook, flipping through it, trying to find what his fellow jock had written down. It took Dash a moment to discover that the very last page in the notebook was dog-eared. He turned to that page and read what was written in Kwan's handwriting.

_What/What not to do!_

**_1._**_ No bullying. At all._

**_2._**_ Try to stay away from him. You know who!_

**_3._**_ Be nice to him._

**_4._**_ Be nice to his friends._

It finally dawned on Dash. _Oh, so that's what he was doing._

Kwan was being a good friend to Dash, and was trying to keep him out of trouble. After re-reading the list a few times, Dash nodded to his friend, closed the book, and went back to writing down notes from their class lecture.

Everything on the list made sense, he supposed, and Dash vowed that he would try as hard as he could to follow his friend's critical instructions.

Finally, after yet another class of unbearable anxiousness, the bell rang and the class was dismissed from third period. Unfortunately, the two jocks didn't have the same teachers for fourth period. Dash was on his own, with Fenton, until lunch.

As soon as Dash realized this, he had to take a moment to control the panic that started building up inside of him. After a few deep breaths, he and Kwan gathered his books and started to part ways.

"Remember, be nice to him!" Kwan reminded his friend. Dash didn't need to be reminded of that. Of course he was going to be nice to a teenage superhero, even if he was in the form of a wimpy, short geek. That led Dash to another question.

As Dash carried his large self down the hallway with his books in tow, he couldn't help but wonder: How was it possible? How was Fenton Phantom? Sure, the actual reason for the powers and glowing and stuff could probably be explained by some weird scientific thing that he and Kwan couldn't even begin to comprehend; they had decided that almost immediately after the discovery. But some things just didn't quite add up.

For example: _How does Danny's hair and eye color change so quickly?_

But it wasn't even just that! Details even smaller than that kept nagging at the back of his mind, all the way down to the minute details.

_When he's Fenton, where is that black jumpsuit thing? Does he hide it under his clothes, like Spiderman?_

As Dash rediscovered his favorite childhood idol, the more he began to realize that the mechanics behind his hypothesis were all wrong. Besides, Phantom's hazmat suit had gloves and sleeves. You can't cover that easily with a tee-shirt. So, no. Not Peter Parker.

Suddenly, all of the doubts that Dash had at first were coming back to him. Their theory was ridiculous! _It_**_is_**_just a coincidence,_ he started to insist. But Dash still wasn't sure. All of his thoughts started making his head ache again. Eventually, his doubts were piled so high, his reason could barely see past them. Nevertheless, he scanned the faces of people walking by, looking for a certain raven-haired boy. He was going to start by avoiding Fenton for the rest of the day, but first, Dash needed to know where that blasted teen was.

Danny had just shut his locker, and was now walking with the fast-moving current of students towards his class. Dash, of course, steered clear of him. But he couldn't help but steal a few nervous glances in the halfa's direction. He tried to stop that instinct, but Dash couldn't brush away the feeling that, for the first time in his life, he was the prey, keeping a close eye on the hunter.

Danny had only moved a few feet forward when he was confronted by a not-so-pretty sight. What happened next was enough to make Dash want to shrink and hide away. He froze in horror, watching helplessly as the scene played out.

Another football player, Matt, used his over-sized shoulder to slam the poor, unsuspecting Danny into the row of lockers. Dash couldn't help but let loose a whimper as these events unfolded before him in slow-motion.

As the scrawny boy smashed into the lockers, he let out an "Omph!", and his books fell from his grip. A cacophony of taunting shouts and sniggers came from the other football players who were standing around. After a short recovery, Fenton stood up to his full height and looked down at the scattered books, sighing dolefully. He then looked up, locking eyes with the amused Matt. Stormy, powerful blue eyes met snide brown ones. Matt's spiteful smiling faltered just for a second while under the intense gaze of Fenton.

"You didn't have to do that." The hallway immediately fell silent at the diminutive boy's words. But he didn't seem hateful, Dash noticed. No, Danny looked at Matt with more of a sad, authoritative, yet merciful look, which was an odd mixture, to say the least, especially when coming from someone as small as him. It was the same look that Dash got whenever he bullied Fenton. That was not the face of a heartless loather.

"Nah, I didn't have to, but it was too much of an opportunity to pass up!" Matt spat at Danny with false supremacy. With that, he just walked away from the abused teen whist getting patted on the back from his entertained buddies.

Yeah, from the way he looked, Danny was most definitely mad. But he didn't seem murderous. And that anger seemed to be more channeled at himself, like a small case of self-loathing. He was also sad and… pitying?

_At who, Matt?_Dash wondered.

And hidden underneath everything else was hurt. But over all, Danny just seemed annoyed. He kicked a bottom locker in short-lived frustration, leaving a noticeable dent in the metal. He then yelped, immediately regretted that move. He stood like a flamingo, rubbing his now bruised foot and looking irritated at his scattered books.

As the scene finished, the on-looking kids lost interest in the finished smash fest, and continued to walk toward their classes. As they did, Dash slowly became aware that he was holding up hallway traffic, and the people who weren't completely annoyed with him were instead looking quizzically at him. They were probably conjuring up some sick reason as to why the jock was just staring blankly at Fenton.

Dash ignored the weird looks and continued his trudge to fourth period. He had only walked a few steps when, much to the objection of the peers behind him, he froze again to think over the situation.

_Kwan said to be nice to Danny._

_Yeah, but he also said to stay away from him._

_But wouldn't it be better to be on Danny's good side when we tell him that we know about his secret?_

_Yeah, but people won't ask questions about this?_

_Who cares? I can ignore them! Or threaten them! Either way. Kwan said to be nice. I'm pretty sure that includes helping him pick up his books._

With that, Dash threw away his pride and walked over to where Danny was crouched down. The bully set down his own books and picked up a few of the binders that had fallen. Some witnesses that were chilling out in the hallway noticed this act, and started whispering confusedly amongst themselves. Dash ignored them, and continued to help the boy.

"Here you go," He grunted, pushing the some-what neat stack of binders closer to Danny.

Danny looked up, noticing his helper for the first time. "Dash?" He asked, obviously surprised and more than a little freaked out at the bully's non-threatening presence.

"Yeah, Fenton?" Dash seethed bitterly. He couldn't help being ticked off. This was definitely not going to be good for his reps. But after a quick self-reminder, Dash gulped at his blunder. "I-I mean, um, well, what I meant to say was, 'What is it, Fenton?'" He asked more politely, if not a little terrified. A few of the bystanders gaped at his sudden change in mood.

_But, hey,_Dash thought, trying his best not to let his self control die, _No matter how weird this gets, he is my hero. And helping Fenton is better than getting squashed by Phantom, right?_

He looked up and met Danny's gaze. Fenton looked back at him, very puzzled.

"Um, why are you helping me, Dash?"

Dash was stumped. He knew he couldn't explain right then why he was suddenly being nice; that would just have to wait. So he considered all of the tactics that he could use to safely answer that question.

_He is Phantom! I'm certain of it! But to everyone else, he's just Fenton, so the 'Avid Phan' approach would be too weird. And my normal bullying voice could get him mad. So…_

"I was bored. Thought I'd try something different."

Danny's eyes were squinted, scrutinizing Dash, trying to see he was lying about what caused this weird, if not really creepy, change. "OK, then…" He tentatively added.

"Um… Got a problem with that?" Dash stated bluntly, noticing how freaked out Fenton was getting.

Danny's eyes widened with apprehension. "No, no! I didn't say that!"

"Good."

_Why is he still choosing to act scared?_

Dash picked up what appeared to be a sketchbook. He studied the cover for a second, then his curiosity took over him, and he couldn't help but flip through the pages.

Drawings jumped out at him, some of them made with a pencil, some of them with multi-colored ink. Some of the drawings were even made with what appeared to be crayons. Basically, it seemed that Danny drew with whatever he could get his hands on.

Most drawings were of planets and aliens and NASA space junk, but sometimes, Dash would spot a drawing of a ghost. There was a short ghost with a weird hat and overalls. He actually had quite a few pictures attributed to him, most with boxes floated in the background behind him. Then, there was that ghost who had chased him and Phantom around when they both got shrunk by accident. Each and every drawing looked like so much time and effort was put into it. Judging by the sketchbook in front of him, Dash felt that is was safe to say that Danny was a good sketch artist. A _really_ good sketch artist.

"So… You draw?" He asked, finding an opportunity to strike up a leisure conversation with his hero, which is something that he'd wanted to do for a few months now. It was funny; he had _never_expected it to go like this.

"What?" Danny asked, seriously considering getting his hearing checked. _There's no way that Dash Baxter asked me that question, right? Right?_Danny tried to convince himself.

"It's a sketchbook." Dash held up the battered, worn-out tool. "Do you like drawing?"

_Wrong._ "Um, yea-"

"-Cool! Me, too! Well, I mostly draw on tests and homework and Sharpie on my friends when they fall asleep on my couch. But still." He placed the drawing pad on the nearly complete pile of books.

Danny raised an eyebrow at that last comment, unsure if it was a joke or not, but not daring to ask. He then grabbed the now tidy stack of books and started to stand up. "Um… It's been nice talking to you…? Yeah. Well, I've gotta get going." Danny started rushing away, stealing quick glances over his shoulder to see if Dash was going to pursue him.

Dash grabbed his own books and stood up as well. "Yeah, well, see ya in class, Fenton!" He waved. After a brief pause, Danny turned completely around and gave a cautious salute, which nearly caused him to drop his books again. He gave a wiry, fake smile, and rushed off again.

_Okay. Operation Small-Talk-With-Phantom: Fail._

Dash sighed. This was going to be a really long day.

**~oOo~**

**A/N: Okay, I just have to say this once more, because I am truly grateful for all of you guys who have reviewed! You all rock like granite! Your choice of sugar/chocolate chip cookie, peanut butter/chocolate fudge, or pineapple upside-down cake!**

**A BIG "Thanks!" goes out once again to my amazing, legitimate, loyal Beta, ghostanimal!**

**Disclaimer: If you think I own DP, then you fail.**

**Peace, love, and potatoes!**


	4. Attacking and Possibilities

**A/N: Here you go!**

**Summary: Another day, another conversation, another attack. But maybe this will be Kwan and Dash's chance!**

**~oOo~**

**Danny and Friends At Lunch...**

"Wait... He did _what?_" Tucker asked, mouth gaping open and eyes open wide in astonishment. His fork, that had been so close to delivering a piece of ham to his mouth, dropped with a clang on his plate.

"Yeah," Danny nodded in confirmation, "I couldn't believe it, either! I really don't know what's gotten into him. It's really, _really_ scary. And weird."

"I bet," Sam added, "Dash being nice is just as believable as me willingly putting on a cheerleader outfit and running around at a football game, grinning and screaming like a freakin' idiot. Are you sure you didn't just imagine the whole thing?"

"Yes, I'm certain!" Danny shouted at his friend's comment. This earned him many strange glances from the people sitting at tables near them. Danny ignored the odd looks, and continued, "He actually walked over to me in the middle of the hallway, _with people watching,_ and picked up all of the books that Matt had knocked down! He even picked up my sketchbook, and was flipping through all of the pages. He then commented on how I was 'Really good, 'or something like that."

"Maybe he's being overshadowed by some hardcore ghost phan?" Tucker asked, his voice rising up at the end.

"Tucker," Danny rolled his eyes, "Hello-_o_! If it was a ghost, I'd know. Besides, as of right now, I don't think _any_ ghosts like me... Besides maybe Klemper, but I'm not even gonna go there."

"Oh. Right."

"Maybe it was some sort of bet, like he would get a hundred dollars if he was actually nice to a nerd today!" Sam suggested, "That makes some sense, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, is only Dash acting weird, or are other people doing it, too?"

Danny thought for a moment, "Well, Dash was the only one who helped me pick up my books, and he hasn't beaten me up all morning. In fact," Danny laughed a little, "Right when I got to my locker this morning, he and Kwan..." He paused for a moment, and took a deep breath. "Oh... Dash _and_Kwan were both scared of me. Yeah. It's Kwan, too. He's also been avoiding me all morning."

"Maybe someone started that whole 'Danny's a Vampire!' rumor again," Tucker laughed, taking another bite of his ham.

"Wait..._ a_ _Vampire?_ _That's_ what that was all about?" Danny asked, remembering the few days where everyone in school was avoiding him and talking about him behind his back, and all of those girls were stalking him.

"Yeah!" Tucker further explained, "Every since that lab in Biology where you had to recorded someone's temperature and heart BPM and your numbers were all _way_ too low, some really awesomely stupid rumors have popped up about you!"

"Aw, man, that is _so_ stupid!" Danny smiled and let loose a few giggles.

"Yeah, _anyways_," Sam went to changing the subject, "What could've caused those two to start being nicer to you?"

"I don't know."

"Oh no," Tucker groaned over dramatically.

"What is it?" Danny and Sam exclaimed in worry at the same time.

"What if... What if maybe... _They know?_" Tucker gasped.

The table was silent for about five seconds, each one considering the possibility.

Then the two boys burst out laughing.

"Yeah right!" Danny gasped for breath in between each word, "Those two idiots? They couldn't figure out that the earth goes around the sun!"

"Yeah!" Tucker wiped a tear away from his eye, "Your IQ drops a few numbers by just walking in the same room as those two!"

Sam wasn't quite convinced, "Yeah, I guess, but what if that_is_ why they're acting strange? What if they have figured something out, even if it's not your whole secret?"

Danny calmed down enough, so that he was able to talk without hyperventilating. "No, Sam. Just trust me!" He smiled, "Tucker's right. There's absolutely no way those two ding-dongs have figured it out."

"Then why do you think they're acting odd? What else could it be?"

Danny and Tucker looked at each other, and at the same time, they formed deadpan expressions on their faces.

"Vampires."

"Yes. Definitely."

They burst out laughing again. Sam rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile along with them.

**~oOo~**

**Kwan and Dash at Lunch…**

"Wait, you _picked up his books for him?_" Kwan yelled out, shocked.

"Shhh!" Dash warned. His eyes darted around the lunchroom, trying to see if anyone looked up at the shouting. After making sure that they were in the clear, he continued to whisper, "Please, don't draw any more attention to us, Kwan! We're already getting a lot of weird looks for not sitting at the A-list's table!"

"But _you_ picked up _Danny's_ books!"

"Yeah, I helped him pick up his books. So what?" Kwan was about to say something, but Dash cut him off. "And, yeah, I know that you told me to stay away from Danny, but you also said to be nice! And what was I doing by helping him? I was _being nice!_ And nothing bad happened, besides a plummet in my popularity! So... Just thought I should get it out there before you start to scold me. I was helping Danny, just like you told me to." He added sourly, crossing his arms over his chest.

As the day progressed, the two boys had subconsciously decided to stop calling Danny just "Fenton". They were actually starting to think of him as a real person who was just as important, or, as they had discovered, even _more_ important than most kids at their school. He deserved respect, just like everybody else, and that respect started by calling him by his first name. And, as Dash had said, by helping him.

Kwan shook his head. "No, no, no. I wasn't going to 'scold' you!" He placed air quotations around the word 'scold'. "No, Dash! Helping him… That was a good idea."

"It was?"

"Yeah!" Kwan nodded enthusiastically, "Now Danny has seen a non-mean side of you. He might not be so worried about us knowing his secret. If you had just walked away, then he would have no reason to trust you! Now, you're on Danny's good side!"

"I guess that's good, but don't you think that other people are going to use that to find some way to humiliate me?"

"Yeah, but they'll always find a way to make someone look bad. But you're Dash Baxter. With a little 'encouragement', they'll leave you alone." Kwan punched Dash's shoulder lightheartedly.

Dash smiled at that. "Yeah, I guess."

Kwan laughed, "Besides, it's not like you're gonna end up like-"

"-**EEEEEEICK!**"

An ear-piercing scream interrupted their conversation. The two boys looked up, panic written all over their faces.

"GHOST!" Someone else shouted.

"G… _Gho-o-ost!_" Dash wailed, pointing a finger to a glowing specter that had just appeared over the usual A-List's table.

The ghost looked like a weird cheetah/bear hybrid. As it landed with a _thump_ onto the table, kids scrambled to get out of the way. The creature bared its extremely sharp teeth at the on-looking students, growling deeply. Then, it opened its cavernous mouth and roared its mightiest roar. That continued for a few seconds, but it soon fell silent, red eyes scanning the children rancorously.

Silence transformed into absolute panic in two seconds flat. Kids everywhere started screaming, and soon the noise became unbearably loud and high-pitched. Everywhere, people were running for cover, whether that cover be under a lunch table or behind an unusually large student or teacher. Kwan followed most of his peer's example and dove under a table, whereupon he met Dash, who was already hiding and shaking like a leaf.

Kwan chose to ignore his terrorized friend for a moment, and instead, he peered out from under the table as inconspicuously as he could. He panned the room, looking for someone in particular. And he saw exactly the thing he half expected to see.

Sure enough, two red tennis-shoes could be seen running out through the cafeteria doors, closely followed by a pair of black combat boots and some brown shoes.

_Danny is leaving! Which means, if we're right about him, then_**_Danny_**_is going to show up about right-_

"Hey, Booboo Bear!"

_-now._

A few claps and cheers rippled throughout the lunchroom as the famous silver-haired boy made himself apparent, but the praise quickly dissipated as the Bear Cat thing lunged at Phantom. A few kids yelped in fear for the benevolent ghost, who had just barely escaped the grasp of the beast. He still got nipped by a claw, though. On his arm, through the torn black jumpsuit, three gashes could be seen, dripping green ectoplasm.

"Now, you're gonna have to try harder that, you giant kitten!" Danny hissed out, only a little pain showing in his silly voice. The monster roared at the latest comment. But, no matter how fast that cat thing lunged, Phantom still found ways to elude capture while still causing injury to his opponent. All of this with sardonic comments threaded throughout.

Kwan and Dash listened in awe as Phantom… No, as_Fenton_ spewed off a strand of sharp-witted mockery. Not one shred of worry or concern lived anywhere in that echo-y hero voice. It was confident and full of humor. That voice should not belong to an insecure teenager. But, somehow, it did. And the two football players had the proof.

The fight quickly developed a rhythm, the pattern going something along the lines of: The ghost would jump at Danny, Danny would easily dodge the attack whilst firing a round of ecto-blasts that occasionally met their mark. That particular pattern didn't seem to get the two of them anywhere, but only a few minutes into the fight, Sam and Tucker joined in. Sam had her ecto bracelet thing, and she happened to have relatively good aim. And between Sam and Danny's hits, plus the energy that the ghost was using to attack Danny, the Cat Bear was starting to lose strength.

When Danny's friends entered the fight, the ghost began having a really hard time keeping its ground. Sometimes, he would get lucky and would claw Danny, but none of its attempts were as successful as that first lunge.

After a few minutes of raging attacks and dodges, the monster grew impatient, and just tried to grab Danny out of the air, but he missed completely, and his claws got lodged in a lunch table. Danny saw his already weak opponent in that fairly vulnerable state. This opened up an amazing opportunity for Danny to attack and to get rid of his rival once an for all.

With one final hard blow from the ghost boy, the monster fell in a heap on the floor, where Tucker decided to make his grand entrance with a certain thermos. There was a flash of blinding blue light, and then the ghost was gone.

Once making sure that the coast was clear, Kwan and Dash crawled out from under the table, and looked around the damaged cafeteria. Other people were also emerging from their hiding spots. They looked around in shock at the smoking holes in the table that were probably caused by Phantom's misfires.

Speaking of Phantom…

The attention of the entire student body quickly turned to the ghost boy, who had landed on the ground and was talking with Sam and Tucker. Many students started trying to mob Danny, who squirmed as someone started smothering him in a painfully tight bear hug. After Danny scrambled out of the suffocatingly tight grip of his phan, he gave his snickering friends rushed high-fives before flying off through a wall. everyone in the lunch room groaned in disappointment when he disappeared.

In the lunchroom, there was still a little distress and confusion from the attack. That, plus the chaos of the stampeding students created a perfect distraction. Kwan saw his chance. He ran.

After finally noticing his friend starting to leave, Dash soon followed. They darted out of the cafeteria double doors, and did a quick pan of their surroundings. All that met their line of sight was lockers and a few classroom doors. No sign of Danny. The two jocks jogged down the hallway to the right, in the direction that Phantom seemed to have flown. They rushed around the corridors for a while more, but still hadn't seen Danny. They were just about to give up and go back to their peers, when, right as they turned a corner, a bright light shone.

Dash jumped back and yelped.

"Ghost!"

He hid behind Kwan, who was hiding behind the corner.

The light had come from inside a classroom. As the two football players stared around the corner in wonder and fright, a certain raven-haired boy exited the briefly illuminated room. They gasped. Danny was cradling his arm, where three deep red scratches, much in the shape of claw marks, could barely be seen. Sure, Kwan and Dash now accepted how the two boys were one and the same, but deep down, they didn't quite expect that to happen.

The halfa stood, his back facing their direction, taking a moment to examine his wounds.

Dash pulled Kwan back by his arm around the corner, where Danny had no way of seeing them.

"Well?"

"'Well?' what?" Kwan asked quizzically.

"What about now?"

Dash looked at Kwan expectantly, but his friend just shrugged. _Now's as good of a time as ever,_ He seemed to say.

Dash nodded at his friend in agreement. He took deep breaths, _in, out, in out,_trying to calm himself.

_Well, this is it. This is our chance. Tell him now, or maybe never have another chance to tell him ever again._

_In, out, in, out._

The two boys nodded slightly at each other, and took their first slow step around the corner in unison. They were moving! They were actually going to tell Danny that they knew! Dash took another deep breath, this one filling him up with confidence. Those aggravating butterflies that had been making his stomach squirm were slowly fluttering away. He smiled at himself.

_Here we go._

They took another step towards the corner. They were so close now! Just one more step, then Danny could see them if he just turned around! They were going… they were stepping, they were almost there, they were about to reveal themselves to Danny, they were about to come clean, when-

"**Mr. Fenton!**" Someone out in the hallway barked.

Dash and Kwan froze in their -still hidden- spots, listening intently, trying to figure out who had called Danny's name.

_No. No, no, no, no, no! Crap!_Dash's inner voice shouted._That voice, it sounded just like…_

"Um, yes, Mr. Lancer?" They heard Danny reply.

Kwan and Dash poked their heads out from behind the wall to get a better look. Mr. Lancer was walking as swiftly as his little legs could carry him over to Danny, who was still standing in that same spot, with his head hanging low. One hand was shoved deep in his pocket, but his other arm, the one with the claw marks, he hid carefully behind his back.

"There is a ghost attacking, and you are roaming around the hallways without permission, outside of the Cafeteria! Who knows what you were doing, or what could've happened to you!"

"Um, Mr. Lancer? The ghost's gone-"

"_Paradise Lost,_ Mr. Fenton, don't interrupt!" Mr. Lancer yelled. Danny winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "It is unsafe for you to be wandering around the hallways without a go-ahead! You'll be having detention, in my room after school, for your complete lack of common sense!"

"But-"

"-Don't 'But' me, Mr. Fenton! Now, the bell is about to ring, so I want you to go immediately to your sixth period class, which just so happens to be one of my classes. So come with me, _now._"

"Um... Okay."

As Mr. Lancer walked away, Danny did a face-palm and followed his teacher, shaking his head in irritation.

Right when they were out of sight, Dash and Kwan emerged from behind the wall.

"Dang it," Kwan sighed, "Right when we work up enough courage to tell him that we know, Mr. Lancer has to show up and ruin everything."

"And now Danny has detention! He didn't to anything wrong!" Dash whined.

"Yeah, Danny has detention, just like us..." A smile crept on Kwan's face, "Oh man, it just had to work out like that, didn't it?" He laughed.

"What is it?"

Kwan shrugged, still smiling, "Well, let's just say that I've never been more happy to have detention!"

"Oh," Dash thought, trying to understand what his friend was saying. His eyes widened as it finally dawned on him. "OHHHH...!" His grin spread from ear to ear, "What a coincidence."

"Yeah."

**~oOo~**

**A/N: MWAHAHAHAHA! … I'm sorry about that not being the end and all… No, wait…No I'm not! Ha! I just have too many ideas floating around up in my head! **

**And all of you guys freakin' rule! I asked for my story to reach 50 comments by the time I posted this chappie… you guys reached that goal in less than five hours! And then you proceeded to add another 15 plus comments! And now i have a new challenge for you! Try to help this story reach… oh, around 80 reviews…? Is it possible? Do you think you can do it? **

**OK, and the whole thing with rumors about Danny being a vampire, I read in another fanfiction called The Ghost Test. It's written by ProneToInsanity. Please go read it. It is truly brilliant!**

**Also, I know that the whole action sequence isn't all that good. But I tried, at least! Right? Was it really that bad? Oh well...** **Meh.**

**Oh, and thanks go to ghostanimal and sapphireswimming, my two amazing Betareaders!**

**Disclaimer: Now, let's try this again. Let's take it slowly. Repeat after me: Sarah. Haley. Does. Not. Own.**


	5. Paranoia and Detention

**A/N: Here it is! Part five! Wham!**

**Summary: Just read it.**

**~oOo~**

**Hallway: Dash…**

Dash Baxter: The self-proclaimed leader of the A-list. The most muscular, physically strong student at Casper High. The Star Quarterback of the Casper High Ravens. But, although his football stats were more than exceptional, his grades and work ethic… Well, let's just say that they were obviously lacking. So, even though most teachers gave him, as well as the other A-listers, 'special treatment', it was nothing new for him to be walking to Mr. Lancer's room after school instead of going home, going to the Nasty Burger, or even going to the football field to practice. But it was definitely new and strange for him to be nervous about who, exactly, was gonna be in detention with him.

Now, Dash's world had flip-flopped. His life had done a one-eighty, turning around with skills that a ninja would be envious of. Then, it had slapped him in the face once or twice, which made him feel even more confused than he already was. So now, even though any other naive student would say otherwise, Dash wasn't at the top. Well, that's how he saw himself, at least: The absolute lowest low. He wasn't king anymore. He had been shoved off of that throne for good.

And he had learned to accept that.

So he trudged down the hallway, feeling crappy as ever, and he didn't care. At least that burden of a secret would be off of his chest by the time the day was up.

He was so wrapped up in these thoughts that Dash wasn't paying close attention as to where he was going. Right as he turned a corner, he ran into a small group of people.

"Hey! Watch where you're goin-" Dash had started yelling, not caring if the run-in was technically his fault. But he paused, mid-word. "Um… I mean, 'Hi, F… Pha… Fen…'"_Crapcrapcrapcrap! Come on, you can do this, Baxter!_ "I mean, well, what I meant to say was, 'Hi Danny. And Sam. And Tucker.'" _Phew!_

"Um… Hello…? Hi, Dash." Danny gave a look to his friends from over his shoulder. His look conveyed a message that went somewhere along the lines of 'Told you so!' Sam rolled her eyes, and Tucker started typing wildly on his PDA.

"Well, see you in Mr. Lancer's!" Dash added, a little too over-excitedly.

"Um… Yeah. Whatever…"

Dash smiled cockily at Danny. Danny frowned at Dash with eyebrows raised. This awkwardness went on for about two seconds, until Sam started coughing very obnoxiously.

"Um, sorry to break this up," She started to explain, "But we've got to go. Lots of things to do, you know?" She grabbed both of her friend's wrists and dragged them a few feet away.

"See yah!" Dash waved.

**~oOo~**

**Hallway: Team Phantom…**

"See what I mean?" Danny whispered harshly to his friends, "See how weird it is? Well, that's what it's been like _all morning_, and I'm starting to get really paranoid!" His eyes twitched, as if emphasizing his point.

"Dude, calm down!" Tucker encouraged.

"Danny," Sam added, "I saw that. We both did. There's nothing to be worried about!"

"Yeah! Whatever happened to the Vampire theory?" Tucker whined a little, "I thought that we were sticking to that?"

"Tucker," Danny tried explaining, "that was only used to take my mind off of how freakin' weird it is!"

"Oh. Sorry. But I still think you're stressing over nothing," Tucker paused and then added his lame attempt at comical relief, "Well, at least you're not losing it, like we had first thought!"

"_No_, it's _not_ in my imagination!" Danny threw his hands in the air, "It's like I said: _I'm not going crazy!_" His eye twitched again.

"We believe you, Danny!" Sam snapped, pulling his arms down from above his head in an attempt to calm her friend down, "Sure, it's really weird how they're acting, but it can't be that bad!"

"And now I'm in detention with him!" Danny continued to rant, tossing Sam's encouraging comment aside, "He's probably just trying to act nice to me so my guard will be down, and then when Mr. Lancer leaves the room to go do whatever it is that he does whenever he leaves the room, Dash and Kwan'll both come over, drag me out of the room by my underwear, and dunk my head in a toilet until water comes out of my nose!"

"But would they really give up their reputation just to make your life more miserable?" The Goth reasoned.

Danny shrugged, contemplating what Sam had said. But right when he seemed to have accepted that possibility, his eyes widened as a new thought hit him. "What if the whole school's in on it?"

"Danny," Sam rolled her eyes, "I hardly think that those idiots are capable of formulating a school-wide conspiracy against you."

"Oh well. We'll see," Tucker smiled mischievously, "If you show up at the Nasty Burger after detention like we've planned, then we can just say that Dash and Kwan are going through a weird phase or something. And if you don't show up at school tomorrow, then… Well… Guess not."

Sam half-heartedly punched Tucker in the shoulder, while Danny's face went white as a ghost, pun intended. "Thanks, Tucker, for that little bit of optimism. Thanks. Exactly what I needed to brighten my day."

"No prob, dude."

Danny glared, clearly not amused.

**~oOo~**

**In detention…**

The telephone rang.

Mr. Lancer eyed the practically empty classroom, picked up the phone, and turned his back to the three students to answer the call.

"Hello, this is William Lancer."

There was a muffled voice coming from the other end. Dash strained his ears to try to hear it, but it was too quiet. He couldn't understand anything.

_Please, please!_ He begged, _Please let it be something that'll get Mr. Lancer out of the room for at least a few minutes, so we can talk to Danny alone!_

Mr. Lancer's expression was enough to tell that, whatever the news was, it was not good (for him at least). Maybe, just maybe, Dash's mental begging would actually gain him something more than just a hurting head.

"_Lord of the Flies!_" Mr. Lancer exclaimed, "What did they do to it this time?"

More muffled speech from the phone.

"That is vandalism, Mrs. Benson!" He shouted very loudly, obviously ticked off, "Hear me? _Vandalism!_ And I will not be treated this way anymore!"

Nothing followed that comment from the person on the other end of the line. Mr. Lancer took the awkward silence to realize just how loudly he had been shouting. He glanced over his shoulder at the eavesdropping students, turned back around, and whispered very harshly, "Have you caught the culprits yet?"

There was one short static-y answer. Even though they were seated in the very back of the room, Kwan and Dash could still barely make out a _"No."_

"Well, find them! Soon! You know what? I'm coming out right now." With that one last growl, and without waiting for a response, Mr. Lancer slammed the phone into its cradle and grabbed his briefcase. He then turned his attention to the students, trying to hang on to what little sanity he had left.

"If you will excuse me, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Li, Mr. Fenton," He started with a quietness that somehow portrayed the anger that was still boiling inside of him, "It seems as though someone has spray-painted my car. _Again._ So, I will have to take a quick leave of absence. I will be right back," He started walking out of the door, but threw one last venomous look at the detentionees from over his shoulder. "Don't try _anything_ while I'm gone," He hissed, "or it'll be detention for all three of you the rest of the year!" He turned his back on the small group and shut the door with a sickening_bang._

All three of the students were quiet after that loud, obnoxious departure. Danny was using the silence to his advantage, straining his ears for any noise coming from the back of the room, where the jocks were seated. Kwan and Dash were, in turn, working up their courage to talk to Danny – again.

Dash put away the binder that he had been pretending to be doing work in into his backpack. After his stuff was all put up, he looked over at Kwan.

"Now?"

Kwan smiled, "Yup."

Dash slowly let out a breath that he didn't even know he had been holding. Before zipping up his backpack, he grabbed his own printed picture of Danny from out of the bag, folded it up neatly, and placed it in his pocket. He and Kwan both stood up and slung their backpacks over their shoulders. They walked up the rows of seats to where their hero was sitting.

**~oOo~**

**Okay, either you all loved this story way too much, or I need to set higher goals for myself. I asked for 80 reviews. You have all, yet again, gone above and beyond my expectations! I LOVE YOU ALL! As of right now, this five-chapter long story has 98 reviews! YAY! That is A LOT! So, because you all like my story way too much, your new goal is, Well… Could you all write maybe… Oh, around 120 reviews by the time I get the next chapter up? Number one, it would really encourage me to write the next (and****_most difficult_****part) of the story, and number two, it really makes me feel better about my writing. XP**

**I do not own DP, or Lord of the Flies, or anything else mentioned in this fanfiction. Just so ya know.**

**And thanks go out, once again, to my Beta-reader, sapphireswimming!**


	6. Explanation and Relief

**A/N: Well, here's the actual part you've been waiting for! Part six!**

**~oOo~**

**_Detention, Danny..._**

Danny tensed at the sudden sound of movement that came from behind him. His grip on his pencil tightened, and he started writing more furiously. Danny turned his head slightly, trying to get a better visual of the approaching gang through his peripheral vision without being too conspicuous. Maybe they were just trying to break out of detention! Maybe they weren't going to do anything that involved him! But Danny, for some reason, doubted that. And much to his dismay, a voice spoke up.

"Hey, Danny."

He paused and took a deep breath. After setting down his pencil as deliberately as one can do with such a small object, Danny turned in his chair and looked up at the two football players.

"What do you want?" The comment snapped out before he could do anything to stop it. Danny almost covered his mouth with his hand, but since the comment had already come out, he decided to play tough for once. He expected one of them, especially Dash, to lash out at him, so he was already preparing for whatever would come flying. But the bigger boys didn't do anything.

"Danny," Kwan started, "We _have_ to tell you something." He was sincere, Danny noted, and not at all like the intolerable bullies that he was use to encountering every day.

"What is it?" He asked slowly, unsure of how to react to what was going on.

_What could they possibly want from me?_

Dash and Kwan slid into neighboring seats right by Danny, clearly getting settled down and set for a long explanation.

After getting a nod of confirmation from Dash, Kwan began, "Well, you see, it started last night. I was over at Dash's, and we found this picture of Mr. Lancer's class. So we found a way to put it onto his dad's computer, and-"

"Well, it wasn't actually _that_ picture," Dash interrupted, his nerves getting the better of him and making him jumpy, "We actually had to find a yearbook, 'cause the normal picture was too grainy or whatever. So we took a few pages in the yearbook and scanned it onto my dad's computer, and we uploaded them to Photoshop."

"And then we started messing around a little, making everyone look funny-"

"-You know, for blackmail stuff…"

Danny listened to their story, not quite getting at where they were going with it, or why they were actually choosing to tell him this. But when Dash mentioned the blackmail, Danny's hearing cut out, and his brain went into overdrive.

_Oh no,_ He groaned mentally, _If this is some weird, sick plan to get me to do something stupid or dangerous, I swear…_

He started to listen to the boys again anyways.

"… and when we got to your picture," Kwan was talking again, "We decided to make a few changes to you, too, and – "

" – And, we swear, we never expected it to happen!" Dash shouted out.

Kwan looked at him, a little annoyed.

"I was getting there." He whispered impatiently.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Anyways, but we made a few changes. All of them were just coincidental, we promise!"

As Danny listened, he thought over his situation, and what Dash and Kwan were saying. A certain nagging came from the back of his head. He tried to shake it away, when suddenly, a voice popped up, and one phrase played over and over again in his mind.

_"What if… They know?"_

It was Tucker's over-dramatic voice, a memory from earlier that day at lunch.

Danny gasped. _No. no, no, no. That's not it!_He tried to convince himself, _There's just no way-_

_"-What if… They know?"_ The quote recited itself again.

_Nope. That's highly unlikely. Right? Please tell me I'm right!_

_"What if… They know?"_

_No. No. They're too dumb! They couldn't ever figure that out. They're probably just trying to freak me out, right? They can't possibly know…_

Danny though back to how his day had played out, and how those bullies had been acting around him. His stomach tied itself into knots.

_Oh my God, what if they_**_do_**_know?_ Danny finally considered.

He watched as Dash slowly reached his hand into a pocket of his Letterman jacket. He then pulled out a piece of paper. Danny couldn't brush aside the feeling that one of his worst nightmares was about to come true.

"And a few of those changes that we made to your picture… Well…" Dash unfolded the it and took one last look at the paper, studying every detail of whatever was printed on it. "But we accidentally made you look like a certain someone. Kwan and I couldn't believe it at first, but…" He took a deep breath and flipped the paper around so Danny could see a picture that was printed onto it, "We eventually couldn't deny it."

Danny got that horrible sinking feeling in his stomach, like that feeling you get when you're about to go into the dive on a roller coaster that is way too high and going way too fast. His brain stopped working for a moment, and so did his voice. After a few seconds of staring at the picture, mouth gaping much like a fish's, Danny finally let out one small phrase.

"Uh… Uh… Oh, crud."

The picture itself was just one from the yearbook. It was the normal head-shot of Danny that the school forced all of their students to take every year. The pose, the backdrop, everything was just as Danny remembered, but everything else about the picture - his hair, his eyes, - was all Phantom. Well, a Phantom drawn on some editing program by what looked to be a three-year-old. But it was clearly Phantom, nonetheless.

_This cannot be happening… This cannot be happening… This_**_cannot_**_be happening!_

Danny took the picture from Dash, his hands shaking.

"You did this?" He whispered.

"Yeah."

Sweat beaded up on Danny forehead, and he bit his bottom lip, but after studying the picture for a few seconds, he handed it back to Dash.

_There is still a teeny, tiny chance that they aren't certain about this, right?_Danny thought, _I mean, what if it's only a guess of theirs? I can't just… admit it as easily as that!_

"I don't know what you're going at," He stated, trying to keep the scared waver out of his voice, "Why did you just hand me a picture of Phantom?"

"'Cause it's really a picture of you, Danny." Kwan explained, "Please don't pretend like we're crazy. We've had enough of that today already."

"Crazy about what?" Danny asked, desperately trying to find a way out of the tight spot he was in, "I still don't know what you guys are talking about!"

"Well, um… We know that you're Phantom." Kwan explained.

Oh well. It was worth a shot. But this was when Danny went into panic mode.

_This is really, really,_**_really_**_not good! Those two, of all people, have figured out that I'm Phantom!_ He thought, on the verge of hyperventilating, _They could blow my secret! They could try to blackmail me, and try to tell everyone that I'm… That I'm…_

Danny practically stopped breathing altogether when another thought hit him. _Wait… I'm Phantom! I'm their hero! They seemed to be scared of me! I can make whatever their plan is backfire onto them_!

He quickly formulated a plan, _Well… It's not the best idea ever, and it'll probably add more of that horribly unbearable guilt to my already guilty conscience. But hey! It's a plan, and it'll have to do._

"Yeah. So what that I'm Phantom?" He spat, trying to put on his meanest look, "I could've kicked your butts any day! I still can! But I know that you wouldn't tell anyone about my secret, am I right?"

Kwan and Dash exchanged worried looks, probably about Danny's sudden change of behavior. He decided to play it up little more. He got out of his desk and stood, on tiptoes, over the football players, trying to seem even more intimidating. He slammed his fist on a desk just for some more leverage. Dash and Kwan both started cowering in fear. Danny looked at both of the jocks angrily and flashed his eyes green.

"_Am. I. Right?_" Danny yelled. This just sent the two boys over the edge. Dash started whimpering, and Kwan's eyes grew about the size of softballs.

"Y… Yes, Danny! Kwan explained, holding his hands up defensively, "We promised immediately after we discovered your secret that we wouldn't tell anyone!"

"Yeah, we haven't really talked to _anyone_ today about _anything_! Not even _football_!" Dash whined, developing onto his friend's statement, "You know, just in case something may have slipped out!"

Danny looked from one scared boy to the other. They both seemed genuinely, honestly… Well, honest. Both Dash and Kwan didn't seem like they were going to try blackmailing him, or that they were going to let his secret out anytime soon. They were way too terrified to do that. The frightened look on those tough boy's faces would've made Danny laugh, except that the situation he was in was definitely not a laughing matter. Danny couldn't help but calm down a little, though. He sat back down at his desk and let out a sigh. But he still needed some reassurance.

"So, you guys haven't told anyone?"

"No."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

Kwan thought. "Yup. Pretty much."

"And you guys won't tell anyone?"

"Nope." Dash popped the 'p'.

_Then maybe this situation isn't that bad, after all._

Danny shook his head and looked down at his shoes. "Okay."

"So you're fine with us knowing and all of that?" Dash asked quietly.

Danny thought how to word his answer. When he finally came up with a delicate was to respond, he spoke up. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, it _really_isn't ideal or anything. _At all. _And you have to swear not to tell anybody. _Ever._ You just can't, or I'll… I'll… I'll do something to you!"

Kwan sighed and nodded his head. "And we won't. I swear."

"I swear." Dash responded likewise, gulping at Danny's fail attempt at a threat.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. _I cannot believe that I'm about to say this, but…_ "Then welcome to Team Phantom, I guess."

Dash did a huge take-in of breath, and Danny thought that the boy might faint. But instead, he let out a high-pitched squeal. "_Coooooool_!" His attitude brightened at an alarmingly fast rate, "So it's like a _club_all about Phantom! Oh, Paulina would be so jealous!"

Danny rolled his eyes, "Come on, it's not a Phanclub! How many times do I have to say this, it's more of a "Helping Phantom" group… Uhg, never mind," He mumbled under his breath when he saw Dash's expression of pure glee go completely unaltered. He started addressing the two again, "But you will not tell Paulina. Ever. Do I make myself clear?"

"Right! Yup!" Dash nodded enthusiastically, a smile plastered all over his face.

Danny gave him another cold stare. Dash looked at him, his happy face contorting into one of pure confusion. Then all of that happiness deflated a little when he realized that acting as excited as possible probably wasn't the right response.

"Oh, yeah. Right," He tried again, "No telling Paulina."

"Or anyone, for that matter?"

"Yup."

Danny gave him one last look. It wasn't a mean one like before. It was more like one of those Just-making-sure-the-moron-sitting-next-to-me-actually-understands-what-I'm-talking-about looks.

"Good."

He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat into what Danny hoped was a more relaxed-looking position. His attention shifted from Kwan to Dash expectantly. Those two were just twiddling their thumbs and nervously looking at anything besides Danny. Danny's slightly aggravated frown drew itself out more as he waited, until finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Well?" He asked, suffocating the awkward silence.

Both Kwan and Dash's head snapped around to where Danny was.

"'Well' what?" Kwan replied.

Danny rolled his eyes and shifted his position slightly, "Come on, I know you guys have questions. I can tell. And so then you won't just go on out and ask me some really private and probably suspicious-sounding question in the middle of gym class with people watching, I'm open for pretty much any question right now." His frown deepened even more.

"Um… Well…"Kwan started, but right when he had opened his mouth to talk, Dash interrupted him.

"Where do you put the suit when you're not using it, are you like Peter Parker from Spiderman and it's all under your clothes, not that I watch Spiderman or anything, but it's just a question, except that it doesn't make sense because you're shirt is short-sleeved and that jumpsuit's sleeves are longer, plus there are gloves and all of that, and how does your hair and your eyes change color so quickly and…" _Gasp,_"Stuff like that?" He squealed out all of that in pretty much one breath.

Danny and Kwan's eyes just kept on widening throughout the whole spiel, and all three were left in yet another awkward silence until Danny finally comprehended all that Dash had asked.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "Well, it's not exactly under my clothes… Like _Peter Parker_," Danny smirked a little to himself before continuing. Who would've guessed that Dash was a Spiderman fan? "It's sort of, well…" _Grrr_, "Oh, I don't know how to explain it…"

"If it_isn't_ a changing clothes situation, could you show us?" Kwan asked, genuinely curious.

Danny crossed his arms tightly, and answered as difficultly and as simply as he could.

"No."

"Why not?" Dash whined in protest, "Please?"

"'Cause I don't feel like it," Danny snappily responded.

"_Please?_" Came another squeal from Dash.

Danny thought a little, and then groaned. "Okay, fine." Dash smiled and was about to say something cheerily, when Danny held up a finger to stop him, "But _only_ because I know that you would bother me for the rest of my life about it if I didn't show you. 'Kay?"

"Okay."

Danny stood up out of his chair, his expression surprisingly blank considering the situation, but there was still an undertone of reluctance and anxiety in his movement.

"I'm 'Goin' Ghost', and all of that."

At these words, a white ring appeared around his mid-section, where it split in half and traveled up and down his body, transforming everything in its path. The two football players watched in bewilderment as the ordinary nerd Danny that they were so use to beating up everyday changed, right in front of them, into the Danny that they both had learned to look up to over the past few months. And it happened, just within a few seconds.

But not just physical appearances, such as clothing, hair and eyes, changed. This new Danny stood up straighter, with more confidence, his shoulders back and his head held high. He seemed like the type of person who could spit and laugh in the face of danger and still be able to lead an army. This was not a Danny that you could shove in a locker and get away with it.

"Uh… Wow." Kwan's mouth hung open, his jaw like a loose hinge. Dash was too in shock to even respond, besides a small peep sound that came from the back of his also widened mouth.

Danny – this new, confident one – looked from one jock to the other, just a hint of a leer playing on his lips. Despite how much he didn't want them to dig deeper into his secret identity, Danny couldn't help but feel triumphant that he, for once in his life, was in more control than Dash, and he hadn't fought back or anything to get into that higher position.

"So… How, exactly, did this happ-" Kwan started. But, once again, Dash found his loud phan-voice and couldn't control himself.

"-How many _powers_do you have?" Dash wailed, holding the word 'powers' for a few beats, "Can you show us a few of them?"

Danny groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fine... Well, first things first…" He reached over and snatched the picture of himself from off of the desk. His hands started to glow a bright green, and the picture practically incinerated right in front of their eyes. Danny's hands were left smoking, and a small pile of ash lay on the ground at his feet. He then took his white boot and pushed the ashes around until it was no longer noticeable.

"There, see? No evidence."

The two boys were put to awestruck silence once again. Danny pretended not to notice, and continued scratching the back of his neck.

'_Mkay. Let's get this over with as fast as possible._He wanted to get the usual stuff out of the way so the two football players could have a little rundown before Mr. Lancer walked back in.

"Hmmm... Well... Let's see, I can fly, at almost 120 miles per hour, I might add. Um, I can go invisible, walk through stuff, shoot things…"

As he continued to ramble off powers at a brisk pace, Danny gave a quick example of each, much to Dash's and Kwan's amazement. First, he hovered just inches off of the ground for a few seconds, then he waved his intangible hand through the desk, then he shot a small ecto-blast out of his finger. The blast hit an edge of Mr. Lancer's desk. A fresh, steaming hole with burnt edges was made in the wood.

Danny continued, "Ummm, I can do this shield thing," Another example. More gaping. "I have a weird tail-looking thingie, I can overshadow people…" At this, a disturbing smile crept onto Danny's face, but after a quick shake of his head, the smile disappeared and Danny finished. "So, yeah. That's about it."

Kwan and his friend were left taking in deep breaths and staring off into the mid-distance. If Danny were to wave one of his still-smoking hands in front of their faces, the two probably wouldn't notice. But after a few moments of sitting around digesting new information, Dash was the one who, once again, broke the silence.

"Y-you can do _all that?_" He exclaimed, only a little fear showing though behind his giddy voice.

"Mhm." Danny nodded as casually as he could, as if having a multitude of powers was the most normal thing in the world. He then turned to Kwan, who was the less-annoying one of the two, and before Dash could squeal out another weird question, Danny addressed him, "So, Kwan. You got interrupted by Dash, but before that, you're question was...?"

Kwan looked up and him, eye to eye, "Wha-? Oh,_that_ question. It's... It's nothing. Probably extremely personal... I shouldn't ask. There are probably laws against asking ghosts this question in the Ghost Zone..."

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Well, we're not in the Ghost Zone, are we? And I'm not really a ghost, so..." Danny shrugged. That last comment, though, earned weird looks from both Dash and Kwan. Danny ignored their curious gazes and continued, "Plus, unless someone is talking really bad about my friends or family, I don't get legitimately insulted easily."

Danny could guess what question was coming up, but the more he started talking about this kind of stuff to the two jocks, the more he felt like they idolized his alter-ego too much, and therefore, they wouldn't betray him. He actually felt like maybe he _could_ trust them with his secret.

Kwan looked around the room slowly, considering actually asking Danny what was on his mind. He looked back to Danny, eyes met, and he finally spoke up, "How did this happen?" He asked very slowly, "I mean, I know it's probably some scientific explanation that even you probably don't understand half of, but... From your point of view, what... What happened?"

Danny nodded, having expected that exact question, "Well, it's... It started when... Um... Ah, I don't know..." He hadn't really had to explain the whole thing to anyone before, and it was definitely harder than he thought it would be.

"You don't have to tell us. That's fine, too."

Danny couldn't help but smile at that. Who would've ever thought that Kwan could be considerate? But that last, kind comment tipped the boat for Danny. Now he knew that his secret would be safe with these guys, especially Kwan, and if Dash were stupid enough to spill the beans to someone by accident, Kwan was smart enough to fix the mistake.

"Nah, I don't mind, honestly," Danny cleared his clogging throat, "It's just... I've never had to actually tell anyone before. I mean, Sam and Tucker were there, and Jazz hasn't really ever asked, and those are the only three who know."

"Oh."

"But I can do this... Well, Okay. Here it goes..." He took a deep breath, readying himself, "Well, it started about, oh, roughly five months ago. My parents had just finished this big portal thing that went to the Ghost Zone in their lab. But when they turned it on, it didn't work. I decided to try to figure out what was wrong, so I went inside and..." Danny shrugged, closed his eyes, and leaned back into his seat. His feet lifted up and rested lazily on the desk.

"I don't really know what happened. I could've pulled a cord with my foot; I could've flipped a switch or something with my elbow. Heck, I could've even pressed an 'ON' button that my parents were stupid enough to put on the inside," Danny's eyes fluttered open, and he gave a forced smile. "Knowing them, that could happen," He croaked out.

Danny spaced out for a second, reminiscing. After a few seconds, he flinched as if remembering a painful dream, closed his eyes, and sighed. He then pulled himself back to reality and continued, "Well, whatever _did_ happened, the portal turned on, with me inside it. I was zapped until I was unconscious, and when I woke up, I looked like this. I was Phantom."

"Wait... You were _electrocuted_?" Dash asked, his face going pale. Even an idiot like him knew how dangerous that was.

"Yeah. And I remember there being green stuff, so I think that ectoplasm was mixed in, which would explain a lot about... Well, stuff. So, yeah."

"But wouldn't that hurt, like, a lot?" Kwan asked as sensitively as he could.

Danny nodded once, in a swift, deliberate up and down movement. He started off slowly.

"Yup. Well, probably. I don't actually remember it all that well. It's sort of fuzzy, like... Like a hallucination or a dream. I just remember this buzzing sound, like what you hear when an old TV turns on. Then there was this blinding green light, and I started screaming. I must've gone unconscious almost immediately, 'cause I only felt this big pulse of energy, and then nothing. But I remember aching and feeling like complete _crap_ when I woke up. So judging by that, then yeah," Danny pulled his fingers through his unkempt ghostly-white hair and murmured, "It definitely hurt."

Dash got this odd puzzled look on his face, like he was trying to comprehend everything that Danny must've gone through during that incident. Kwan just hummed sympathetically, trying desperately to find another conversation that he could start, one that involved less painful memories. He couldn't think of one, so he just went for whatever question was on his mind. Anything was probably going to be better than what their mind was stuck on right then.

"But how do you do it?" He asked.

Danny looked at him quizzically, not understanding what the boy meant. "Do what? Fly? Go invisible? Ha," He rubbed his temples and looked up again. "I frankly have no idea."

"No, no, not that," Kwan shook his head, trying to find an easier was to word his question, "How do you handle your life? I mean, Dash and I have trouble handling grades and social status with football and stuff. But _you_... You have to balance school life, life with friends, fighting ghosts, us bullying you, you having to hide the biggest secret ever, and God knows what else! How do you get past? How do you not snap? How..." Kwan looked down at the ground, almost ashamed, "How did you never take it out on us?"

Danny looked at Kwan with kind, burning green eyes. They had a sparkle in them that wasn't present before. Danny stole a quick glance at the ceiling, and then looked back at his small audience.

"Because I know that if I snap, I can do bad things. Dangerous things to other people. And I can't ever do that. _Ever._ 'Cause if I ever catch my common sense afterwards, the guilt would kill me. Or I would do something else extremely rash." He shrugged very lightly, a movement that was barely detectable. "So that's what keeps me pushing through."

Kwan and Dash nodded, both surprised at the darkness of the answer.

Danny, glad to have actually told _someone_ how he felt about that, breathed out one long, continuous sigh. It hung in the air for just a few moments, but when it finished, he let out a 'Hmph."

_I'm feeling a little better about this,_ he thought. _Okay, maybe A LOT better. Maybe this won't be too bad, with Kwan and Dash knowing. But still..._He smirked.

_Unbelievable._

He then sat up strait in his chair, feet on the floor, and shook his head. With one small thought, those white rings appeared around his waist, and Phantom changed into Fenton.

"I cannot believe this."

"You're one to talk," Kwan puffed, still not use to the transformation yet.

"No, I'm serious!" Danny whined as light-heatedly as he could, "My friends and I have spent the last few months trying to keep this secret from getting uncovered. We've been hiding it from my parents, from teachers, from Valerie, even from the government! And now the _most stupidest_ _guys in the school_ – no offense or anything – figured it out on a computer program that they don't even know how to use!"

Danny banged his head against his desk and groaned.

"Just wait until Sam and Tucker hear about this..."

**~oOo~**

**A/N: There you have it – the end! I might possibly write an epilogue to this, (probably not a sequel) but it just depends on what I can come up with, and how much you guys review! XP And if I don't ever write the epilogue, then I really hope that you all have enjoyed this story! I know that I have definitely enjoyed writing this and reading all of the feedback! I know I will miss it!**

**Oh, and something I should mention - now that the story is pretty much over… This takes place after Jazz tells Danny that she knows, and just a little after her weird 'MUST HELP DANNY!' phase… Hence why he doesn't have Ice yet… **

**And I also know that, in this chapter, the characters were a little OOC. (OK, sometimes they were VERY OOC...) But it was necessary for the story. Besides, no one, except Jazz, really figured it out in the series, so we don't actually know how Danny would react to someone else (someone****_he doesn't like,_********mind you) figuring it out.**

**Now, I have just a few questions about this fanfiction that I would like answered. So if you don't mind completing this 'survey' via review, then…**

**1.) On a scale from 1 to 10, what would you rank this story in terms of quality compared to a few of the other Danny Phantom fanfictions you've read?**

**2.) Did it meet your expectations? (As in, was it satisfactory without any loose ends, or was it slightly disappointing?)**

**3.) Would you like me to write an epilogue, or would that just be overkill?**

**Well, that's about it. You don't have to answer these questions at all, it's not 'mandatory' or anything... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME SAY THIS AGAIN!**

**And thanks to sapphireswimming for beta-ing this!**


	7. Epilogue

**A/N:****_Drum-Roll please! _****Back by popular demand, I present before you, the EPILOGUE!**

**Summary: Oh, come on. This is ****_THE END _****the end. Must I say more?**

**~oOo~**

"What time is detention usually over again?" Tucker asked in between mouthfuls of hamburger.

Sam eyed the carnivore's food with disgust before answering. "Usually around four-thirty." She stole a glance at her watch and tapped the glass a few times, "Hmmm. Danny should be here soon."

"Maybe he just got hung up," Tucker suggested, taking another nervous bite from his hamburger.

"Did you mean that literally, or figuratively?"

"How could I possibly mean that literally?"

Sam crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "Flagpole. Underwear. _Hung up._"

"Oh." Tucker gulped and pulled at his collar. But after he considered that possible scenario, he shrugged, "Well, if it does have anything to do with Dash and Kwan, I'm pretty sure that Danny can fend for himself."

"But those two jocks have been acting too weird!" Sam brought up, "It could be something that they've been planning for days! Something _bad_!"

"But it's like we've said before: what could those two possibly do?" Tucker explained.

"Yeah, you're right," Sam shook her minute worry away and turned her attention to her nice, green, meat-free salad.

The Nasty Burger was almost clear, since school had let out a whole hour ago. The two sat in a slightly awkward silence; they had already discussed everything they could think of to talk about. Plus, their still present worry was making them unusually quiet. Now it was just the matter of whether Danny would show up or not.

Minutes passed. The two still sat at their booth, trying to look more annoyed and passive than fearful. Besides, they were definitely used to the bullying by now. Years of torturous, wild school can have that effect. But both of them were gripped by that feeling of uncertainty. That feeling of obligation. Like they should be helping Danny get out of whatever tight spot he was in, not sitting on their rumps eating comfort food. In fact, Sam was about to mention possibly looking for Danny, or at least contacting him.

But, eventually, Danny did show up.

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice yelled from the general direction of the entrance.

"Hey, Danny!" Tucker waved and scooted over to give Danny some room to sit at the booth.

"What's up?" Sam asked as Danny slid in across the table from her. "What took you so long? Did Mr. Lancer hold you for a longer-than-normal time?"

Danny breathed sharply, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to answer that question just yet. He finally sighed and began. "No, it wasn't that. But… Um, guys? I have to tell you something."

Sam listened, not sure what Danny was going to say. Thoughts and ideas raced through her mind as she tried to find an explanation for the conversation's route.

_Ugh, what's Skulker done this time? Or is it something to do with his parents?_ Sam thought. But none of these reasons seemed to match Danny's sick yet not panicked expression.

"What is it?" Tucker asked when Danny had stopped to consider how to word what he was going to say.

"You know how at lunch, we were talking about why Dash and Kwan were acting strange?" Both Sam and Tucker nodded their heads slowly and waited for a more in-depth response. Some annoying slurps came from Tucker, who was sipping a coke in suspense. Danny looked at the glass of coke bug-eyed, until the slurping finally quieted down. He finally found it appropriate to continue. "Well… Tucker was right."

"Wait, _what?_" Tucker did a spit-take, spewing a lovely mist of saliva and coke all over his half-devoured hamburger. "Really? No stinkin' way!"

"Yeah."

"They seriously thought that you were a vampire?" Tucker wheezed through giggles, "I was for sure that that was a one-time thing!"

Sam smiled with him, but something still didn't click in her mind. Danny wasn't laughing or agreeing with his friend at all, so something was clearly wrong.

"Tucker, be quiet," She palled. She then turned to her worrying friend. "Danny, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Well, Tucker _was_ right, but not about the vampire theory. Not even close." He nodded towards the direction of the front door of the restaurant, and in walked two people. The last two people in the world that Sam and Tucker wanted to see: Dash Baxter and Kwan Li. And they were going in the direction of their table. Tucker's eyes went wide in anxiety.

As they reached the table, Danny acknowledged them, but continued talking to Sam and Tucker. "I've already talked to Dash and Kwan about it, and they're cool, but they wanted to talk to _you_ about it. 'Cause, you see, Tucker was right…" _Sigh,_ "About them knowing."

There was a silence that banged in their ears. It was only shattered by a sudden, "**_WHAT?_**" that Sam and Tucker yelled out in perfect synchronization.

"They know? As in, _they know_ they know?"

"They know about _that?_"

"Surprise!" Dash squeaked out in between their ramblings as he slid into the squished space next to Danny and Tucker. The entire table fell silent. Danny and Kwan gave him a 'not now, idiot!' look, and both Tucker and Sam stared at him in quiet apprehension.

"Yeah, we know," Kwan tried easing the sharp silence a little as he sat down on Sams' side of the table, "Both of us know, but only we know. We figured it out by ourselves, and Danny was quite good at... _burning_ the evidence."

Tucker sat with his mouth gaping open, looking from one jock to the other. Sam was almost as immobile as Tucker, but managed to get past her shock more quickly.

"But… But how?" She asked, her voice getting dangerously rough.

"Since when?" Tucker griped in disbelief.

"Of all people, _you_ two?" Sam slapped her hand on the table, making Kwan recoil. "I cannot believe this!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, guys, stop freaking out! Please!"

After Danny shouted this, Tucker and Sam both calmed down considerably. But their faces were still red, and they were breathing heavily.

"It's actually not too bad, them knowing," Danny went on, "Nothing's gone wrong; they haven't spilled the beans or anything… At least, not _yet_," This was followed by a glare in the general direction of Dash. "But they've sworn not to tell anyone," Danny finally finished explaining.

Sam turned to Dash, her eyes blazing, "And you won't tell, will you?"

Dash shook his head. No fear showed through his mask. "Nope." He popped the 'p' lightheartedly, which didn't do too much to relieve their irritated nerves.

Sam still wasn't quite convinced. "Okay," She said anyway.

"But… But how did you figure it out?" asked Tucker.

Once again, Dash and Kwan restated the events of the night before. There was a whole lot less overlapping and interrupting, so they were able to get through the story much faster than the first time. And when they were done, Sam and Tucker couldn't help but bombard them with questions.

"Where'd that picture go?"

"It's gone, guys! Calm down! Jeez-" Danny tried, but he was immediately interrupted by Tucker.

"Are you absolutely sure no one could've seen the document on the computer, even when you two were done?"

"Yes, Fole... I mean, Tucker," Dash tried explaining, "We deleted it-"

"Did you print any more pictures?"

"No, Sam, only the one-"

"And since when do you have Photoshop?" That one was from Tucker, who now had somehow gotten the full spotlight. Everyone's eyes were on him. "According to my PDA, the chances of one of you jocks having a photo editing program on your computer is only around 17%!"

"It was my dad's computer," Dash explained. "It was already hooked up to the scanner."

"Oh."

Somehow, after that explosion of panic, the tone changed dramatically. A blanket of silence covered their table, and everyone seemed zoned out and deep in thought. No one talked for a while. There was so much more to say, but no one was in the mood to say it.

Kwan drummed his fingers on the table and searched aimlessly around the restaurant, a look of unreceptive boredom on his features. Which was a surprising expression to say the least, especially when considering all that had happened that day.

"So… Yeah…" He hummed to no one in particular. He then stretched a little, and started sliding out of the booth. "Well, wish I could stay and chat some more, but I better be headed off. It's probably about time for my mom to get off of work, and I don't want her to freak out 'cause I'm not home yet. What about you?" He looked at Dash, who had started staring into nothingness.

Dash whispered out a 'yeah', keeping his gaze fixed on whatever it was he was looking at.

Kwan addressed the whole group, "Well, it's been nice talking to you. And sorry if we're a nuisance or something, in your eyes at least. I just want to help… That is, only if you need it."

Danny nodded without a word, but somewhere in his blue eyes, Kwan detected a little 'thank you'. Kwan took that as a go-ahead. He waved goodbye and started heading for the exit. Dash soon followed suit.

Three pairs of eyes followed them out of the restaurant, and right when the doors closed, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, this changes a whole lot of things." Danny spoke out only what everyone else was thinking.

Sam pushed her salad away in slight distaste. "I'm not that hungry anymore. So, now what?" she asked, "I mean, they _know_. And I know that they told you that, even before you told us, so you actually had some time to calm down, but you still don't seem all that shaken. But doesn't them finding out so easily… Doesn't that irk you? Even just a little bit?"

"Yeah, it does," Danny sighed, " I've always wondered what could make people to find out, but I never expected it to be that simple! But that was just a coincidence, right? The chances of that happening again can't be very high!"

"Yeah, I guess. But what are we going to get out of all of this?" Sam asked. Tucker nodded. He was curious, too.

"Relax! I've got it completely under control," Danny smile was quite sly as he came up with an idea. "Besides, I know exactly how their amazing skills and authorization can be put to _very_ good use."

**~oOo~**

The school was buzzing. Rumors flew around everywhere, rumors with no clear source. Gossip was, yet again, everyone's favorite activity, and everyone had some sort of idea of what caused _The Event_ to happen. But none of them where anywhere close to being right.

Danny strolled down the hallway, beaming. Everyone who walked past him actually seemed to respect him now. No one gave him mean looks, and he wasn't smashed against a locker once! He grabbed a discarded school newspaper that was sprawled on the floor, and read it while he walked. Monday's wild story had already been published on the front page. He couldn't help but read it one more time.

* * *

><p><strong><em>A-LISTER DASH BAXTER STANDS UP FOR WIMP DANNY FENTON<em>**

_Never before, in the entire history of Casper High, has anything so momentous ever happened. This event is sure to keep the lines busy for the rest of the week, at least! Yesterday, while in front of a crowd of peers, Dash Baxter, famous all-star quarterback and head of the A-list, stopped Matt Jordan, fellow football player, when he was in the act of bullying Danny Fenton. Dash proceeded to implied that he and Danny were now good friends. Then, he proclaimed how he didn't want to see anymore bullying ever again on the grounds of Casper High._

_"It will be an interesting change," Nathan Sparks, former victim, admits, "I never expected it to happen, and I don't think anyone else did, either. I wasn't quite sure that I believed it at first, it was so impossible! But it's nice to know that someone so popular and so respected by other students is now on the geek's side. School feels much safer now."_

_Dash Baxter, like many jocks, has previously been known for taking his anger out on others by bullying them, so what has caused this sudden change of heart? Well, some rumors that have started to circulate are..._

* * *

><p>Danny stopped reading. He knew most of the rumors, and he didn't feel like hearing them again. Besides, Sam and Tucker had started walking next to him, and it was rude to ignore them.<p>

"So, Danny," Sam started once she noticed that he had stopped reading, "Things'll be different now, huh?"

"You bet," Danny laughed and handed her the newspaper. He pointed at the headlines. "But I told you, I knew those two would be helpful!"

**~oOo~**

**A/N: As you can see, I have also scraped together what little creativity I have left, and have also given in to evil peer pressure. So, alas, my dear readers, here's the EPILOGUE! And, therefore, it's the official end! And sorry for the late-ness. My bad.**

**But this isn't my only Danny Phantom Fanfiction! I've also started another story, ****_Autograph_****! So, if you are interested, you could go and trudge past the slow-ish first chapter, and see what I've got in store for you there!**

**I don't own. Please don't make me say it again!****_*twitch*_**

**And thanks go, once again, to my beta-reader, sapphireswimming! Thanks for sticking with me to the end!**

**So… It's over. Officially, legitimately over. I'm so happy that you all have read the entire thing! All of your support has really helped me explore who I am as a writer, and this story has become much more popular than I ever thought possible! I love you all!**

**Sarahhaley, out!**


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